Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Even before 2009 started, all initial indicators suggested that India Inc’s year in the UK would be that of the Tatas. The close of the year simply confirmed this with plenty of interesting developments leading to that foregone conclusion.

Tata’s daring double acquisition — first steel maker Corus in 2007 and later luxury car marquees Jaguar and Land Rover in 2008 — provided the perfect background for 2009 to unfold and become the year when the name Tata would be the most spoken about Indian business group in the UK.

The year started with some bad news coming from two of Tata’s most prominent investments. In January, Corus said the total job loss in its European operations would be close to 3,500 — 1,100 in South Wales, 1,400 in the United Kingdom and another 1,000 in Holland.

Corus had already embarked on a major restructuring exercise to mitigate the impact of the worst global recession since 1930. A major body blow for UK’s largest steel maker came bang in the middle of the year, when a consortium of four steel buyers for Corus withdrew half-way from a 10-year contract, forcing Corus to announce plans to mothball (temporarily close) some of its major works in the north-east.

This decision, expected to be implemented in January 2010, would lead to 1,700 job losses in the region in Corus alone and another estimated 1,300-1,500 jobs in dependent sub-contractors’ plants. Unofficial estimates from the unions suggest this number could bulge by another three times at least. Despite the problems on the ground, Tata decided to dig its heel deeper into Corus by announcing plans to drop the 12-year brand name with a massive re-branding exercise that should unfold by the summer of 2010.

The situation for Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) was a shade better than that at Corus. Despite announcing voluntary redundancies of around 2,000 jobs, the car maker put in motion a new business plan and managed to get the approval for a £340-million (nearly Rs 2,527-crore) loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to develop eco-friendly cars. This loan came with a caveat that it would need the UK government’s guarantee.

Among other conditions, the UK government demanded a board berth, forcing JLR to turn down the government’s support. The company, however, went on to raise twice the value of the EIB loan from other banking sources in the UK and in India.

Almost right through 2009, the global demand for luxury cars remained sluggish. In June, Tata Motors (the owner of JLR) said a severe erosion in demand for premium and luxury cars impacted the business of JLR, which posted a loss of Rs 2,400 crore for the 10 months starting June 2008, when it was acquired by Tata. JLR was strongly profitable (Rs 4,770-crore net) in the 18 months to May 31, 2008, when it was owned by Ford Motor Company of the US.

The year was not entirely bad for JLR. In February, it got a £600-million (Rs 4,460-crore) order for supplying 13,000 cars to Chinese buyers over the next three years.

Despite cutting production by nearly 100,000 units over the year, recovery was in sight towards the end of the year. JLR reported a 30 per cent jump in sales (nearly 19,000 units) in November, giving some hope that 2010 might be a better year for JLR.

Vedanta’s troublesWhile the Tata Group was managing its problem-ridden acquisition in the UK from Bombay House, the UK-based metals major Vedanta Group (founded by Anil Agarwal) ran into rough weather in Orissa.

The bauxite mining project (to extract aluminium) in Orissa came under fire in the UK with human rights campaigners claiming that the $8-billion (Rs 37,4165-crore) group was trampling over the fundamental rights of the Dongria Kondh community in the Niyamgiri hills of Kalahandi district, which is considered holy by the community.

Questions were raised about the Church of England’s investment in the company and a high decibel campaign was run outside the venue where the company held its annual general meeting in July.

In October, the UK National Contact Point (NCP) for the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises said that Vedanta had failed to engage the Dongria Kondh in adequate and timely consultations on the construction of the mine and it did not consider the impact of the construction of the mine on the rights and freedom of the community, or balance the impact against the need to promote the success of the company.

Of business and politicsVedanta was not the only group under severe media scrutiny in the UK. Lord Swraj Paul-controlled Caparo Group took a severe beating to its topline due to falling steel prices and global recession. The group’s topline dropped by nearly a third to £650 million (Rs 4,836 crore) in 2009 from £950 million (Rs 7,067 crore) in 2008.

With a greater focus on Indian customers in the next two to three years, the group’s CEO Angad Paul said that growth numbers would be reinstated from 2010, while he projected the overall turnover to cross £1.2 billion (nearly Rs 9,000 crore) by 2011.

While his business took a beating in 2009, Lord Paul was caught in an MP expenses scandal with sections of local media accusing him of breaking rules to claim expenses as a member of the House of Lords. Paul later denied these charges and invited an inquiry into his claims.

India-UK diplomatic relations received a major boost when President Pratibha Patil undertook a three-day visit to the UK, the first state visit by the President of India to the country in nearly two decades.

With rising unemployment numbers in the UK inching closer to 2.5 million by last count and with an eye on the next general elections set to be held by mid-2010, both the ruling Labour and Conservatives on the opposition were forced to promise tighter rules to tackle immigration.

Britain’s shadow home secretary Chris Grayling, during the party’s annual conference in Manchester in October, said his Conservative Party will, if it comes to power, introduce a ceiling on immigration to check the “gaping hole” in policy. He said, should the conservatives be elected to form the next government, measures will be introduced to check the “rampant abuse” of students’ visas.

This was later followed by a statement from UK’s Prime Minister Gordon Brown who said his government will seek to tighten rules, while he assured that his government’s new points-based system was very effective in keeping a check on immigration.

While it is not yet clear if the UK will be out of the recession in 2010, plenty of action is definitely in store. The most awaited development would, of course, be the results of the General Elections that would define the next government’s policy, not just on immigration but also those that would affect businesses.

Rising interests of India Inc in the UK, will make it a closely-watched election by Indian business groups, next in line only to a similar jamboree India witnesses every five years.

Amidst fear that England may pull out of the Commonwealth Games 2010, to be held in Delhi, the British Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Games England have issued a strong statement stressing that the country is likely to send its team to India in October 2010.

The Daily Telegraph, in a front page report today, said that due to security concerns England might pull out of the Games, scheduled to take place from October 3-14. The report suggested that the overriding fear was that terror groups from Pakistan might target the athletes participating in the game. Ann Hogbin, chief executive of Commonwealth Games England, said: “That is definitely not the case. Our current and strong intention is to field a team for the Games in Delhi next year. Of course, we have a duty of care to the athletes and other team members which we take very seriously. Despite having been given extensive briefings from relevant authorities, we have not received any indication that we should not participate in the Games and we will continue to work hard to put in place the best possible arrangements for our team.”

Suresh Kalmadi, chairman of the Organising Committee, Commonwealth Games 2010 Delhi, strongly denied the report and said: “We have not received any official intimation to this effect, and in fact the British Foreign Office as also the statement from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has emphasised that it has not advised any of its teams not to compete in next year’s Commonwealth Games on security grounds.”“The security commanders’ meeting was held at the home ministry recently and all Commonwealth Games Associations were satisfied with the security arrangements outlined for the Games,” he added.

Both Mike Fennell, president, Commonwealth Games Federation, and the Coordination Committee of the Commonwealth Games Federation earlier this month had lauded the preparations of Delhi Police in ensuring the secure conduct of the Games.

The Daily Telegraph today said that Metropolitan Police Commissioner Paul Stephenson, after visiting Delhi earlier this month, had voiced serious concerns about the security arrangements. However, there were no direct statements attributed to Stephenson in the report.

Monday, December 21, 2009

UK-based diversified conglomerate Caparo Group expects a third of its revenues (sales) to come from India by 2011 against the present level of 20 per cent. While a sizable portion of the group’s presence in India is in the automobile component sector, it is planning to diversify its interests in India as supplier of components to the railways and in the oil & gas sector as well.

Talking to Business Standard, Caparo Group CEO Angad Paul said the group’s projected revenues of around £1.2 billion (over Rs 9,000 crore) by 2011 will mostly come from the investments completed over the last two-three years. The Caparo Group has a dominant presence in Europe and North America, with India emerging as a strong market for its component businesses.

Paul said revenues from India this year will be a little shy of Rs 1,000 crore. Revenues are expected to rise to Rs 1,600-2,000 crore in 2010 and to Rs 2,500-3,000 crore (around £400 million) in 2011. Also, in 2011, the group’s total revenues are expected to be around £1.2 billion, up from the present level of £650 million (nearly Rs 4,900 crore).

Lower demand for steel products and a general slump in prices drove down the group’s turnover by nearly a third from £950 million (nearly Rs 7,160 crore) in 2008 to the current year’s revenue of around £650 million, said Paul. The group, however, expects demand for steel products to rebound with 2010 revenues to be reinstated to £850-900 million (over Rs 6,400 crore).

The group’s share of revenues from India (in percentage terms) also rose considerably in the current year due to the slump in demand in the western markets. Based on its current business plans, Caparo Group’s top line is expected to be equally divided between Europe, North America and India by 2011, with each region contributing roughly around £400 million, Paul said.

Explaining the group’s ambitions in India, Paul said: “(The plan is) that we get the best customers, the best customer satisfaction, best quality and best delivery performances. It’s actually that simple. There is nothing world-dominating about it.”

Caparo Group in the UK was formed in 1968 by India-born British industrialist Lord Swraj Paul with a small engineering unit in Huntingdon (located about an hour’s drive north of London).

Today, the group has expanded to over 50 locations across the UK, North America, India, Spain and Dubai. It employs over 6,000 people worldwide. The Caparo Group established its presence in India in 1994 though a joint venture with Maruti Udyog (now Maruti Suzuki) and has a presence in over 16 locations in the country with primary interests in manufacturing automobile components. It is also a major supplier for Tata Motors’ Rs 1-lakh car Nano.

Angad Paul, the youngest among Swraj Paul’s three sons, was elevated to the role of Group CEO in 2003 with Lord Paul continuing as the chairman of the group. The group’s interests in India, which is currently restricted to automobile components and aerospace (to a limited extent), is set to expand as supplier of components to new sectors like railways and energy (oil & gas). With nearly 75 per cent equity held by the Paul family, there is no immediate plan to list the group either in the UK or India. Paul said that the immediate priority is to build size and scale in a market like India before contemplating listing in Indian bourses or raising fresh capital.

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Tata Group-owned European steel maker Corus and Britain’s National Steel Co-ordinating Committee have agreed to establish a joint task force to ensure that all alternatives to mothballing the former’s Teesside Cast Products (TCP) facilities are examined.

Appropriate preparations would continue, should mothballing be still required. The task force will also oversee individual consultations with the workforce, which will begin in January. The decision was taken after the steel committee and Teesside Multi-Union representatives met Corus officials on Thursday to discuss the situation at TCP.

“The task force will work with local and national government agencies to mitigate the potential loss of Teesside's core skill base and the effects on the local region and its economy. The unions will be engaging their own steel industry experts to assist with the process,” a joint statement said.

This is the first official announcement from Corus (along with the National Steel Co-ordinating Committee) that it is willing to look at alternatives to mothballing the plant. On December 4, Corus had said that after due consideration since May, it had decided to mothball a major part of its facilities in Teesside, that would lead to 1,700 job losses.

The government of UK’s intervention is being seriously considered as an option to mothballing. Peter Mandelson, the UK'S secretary of state (minister) for business, innovation & skills, who was in Bangalore for a lecture at the Indian Institute of Science on Friday, said: "I will be having discussions with Tata Steel management about the future of Corus' Teesside plant and I have been in contact before and we will have further discussions."

Earlier this week, Ashok Kumar, the area’s Member of Parliament had, in a debate in the House of Commons, said he had spoken to representatives of Ratan Tata on the issue and was assured that the latter would be willing to meet Prime Minister Gordon Brown if the invitation came from Brown's office directly.

Keith Hallowed GMB (Union) National Secretary who attended the talks said : “GMB will take a full part in this agreed process and GMB members will be looking for positive inputs from all parties.”

Corus added that Karl-Ulrich Köhler, a 53-year old steel industry veteran, was set to join the company as its Chief Operating Officer from February 1, 2010. Köhler succeeds Rauke Henstra, who held the position until his retirement last year. He will report to Kirby Adams, MD and CEO, Tata Steel Europe.

Köhler will be based at Ijmuiden in the Netherlands. A statement issued by the company said Köhler had worked during his 30-year steel industry career at the companies that today comprise ThyssenKrupp Steel, where he was most recently Chairman of the Executive Board and a Member of the Board of the parent company, ThyssenKruppAG.

Until October, he was President of Eurofer, the European steelmaking federation, in which role he succeeded former Corus CEO Philippe Varin. "He brings to Corus a wealth of knowledge and experience of steelmaking in Europe, as well as of the European steel supply chain and customer base," the company said.

Kirby Adams said: “This appointment demonstrates Tata Steel’s ambition to further enhance its European business, as well as the determination of this management team to emerge from the financial crisis in a strong and highly competitive position.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Hopes to stop the mothballing of Corus’ Teesside Cast Products (TCP) plant in northeast Britain were revived as a local Member of Parliament opened a fresh channel of communication between Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata’s office and 10, Downing Street, official residence and office of the UK’s prime minister.

Ashok Kumar, MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, in a debate in the House of Commons yesterday, said he had spoken to representatives of Ratan Tata on the mothballing of TCP and was assured the latter would be willing to meet Prime Minister Gordon Brown if the invitation came from Brown’s office.

The objective of the proposed meeting is whether and how the UK government can help Corus avoid mothballing a large section of the steel works that would lead to loss of 1,700 jobs in Corus and another 1,300-1,500 job in sub-contractors’ plants that work for Corus.

“There is a 10 per cent chance that we can still avoid mothballing of this plant. Every day we delay (discussing it), the chances of keeping the plant running is diminishing,” Ashok Kumar later told Business Standard.

On December 4, Corus had announced it would proceed with the decision to mothball the TCP, some months after a consortium of steel buyers from Europe, Latin America and Asia prematurely terminated a buying contract. The consortium that includes Marcegaglia SpA, Dongkuk Steel Mills, Duferco Participations Holding and Alvory SA had in May walked out of a deal that should have seen them buy 80 per cent of TCP’s output over a 10-year period ending in 2014. After several attempts to find alternative buyers, Corus finally gave in and decided to mothball the plant by the end of next month.

Apart from budgeting £80 million for the redundancy package (on account of the mothballing), Corus claimed it had already lost close to £130 million in trying to keep the plants running while looking for alternative buyers.

“Tata has gone the extra mile to keep the plant running. They still want to keep it open,” Kumar said. He said the UK government can definitely help the Tatas overcome the current crisis in its northeast operations. “The government can help Corus find new partners from the Pacific Rim, Europe or the Far East. It can do more than just offer tea, sandwiches and sympathies,” Kumar said.

Pressure on Corus has also been mounting from the unions on account of the carbon credits the group holds. Some members of the union said Corus would actually stand to gain by mothballing parts of the TCP plant ,as it would release carbon credits worth ¤90 million that can be sold in the open market. In a response to an email from Business Standard, a Corus spokesperson said any allegation of this nature is false and without foundation.

Corus is Europe’s second largest steel producer, with its main steel-making operations primarily in the UK and the Netherlands. Corus was acquired by Tata Steel in January 2007 for $12 billion. The combined Tata Steel enterprise has an aggregate crude steel capacity of more than 28 million tonnes and approximately 80,000 employees across four continents.

Friday, December 11, 2009

‘If the Tatas can hold their nerves, profits will come back to this plant’

It is Tuesday afternoon. Probably the reason why the high streets in Redcar, Middlesbrough, show little signs of activity. Yet, the sight seems a sharp contrast to other larger cities in the UK like London or Birmingham, where shoppers throng the streets ahead of Christmas and New Year.

Middlesbrough (population, 142,000), in the northeast of England, is the home of Britain’s largest steel maker, Corus, owned by India’s Tata Group. Local community members say that being a smaller town, the blow of the recession has been more pronounced in this steel-making capital. The recent announcement to mothball a good portion of the Teesside plants has been a very ill-timed “body blow” said members of the Community union.

On December 4, after seven months of struggle, the management of Corus said the final decision to mothball the Teesside Cast Products plant has to be taken in the larger interest of the company. The decision will take effect by the end of January and render 1,700 people in the company jobless.

Earlier this year, a group of four steel consuming companies who had earlier agreed to buy 80 per cent of the plant’s output over 10 years had pulled out, halfway through the contract. The last seven months were spent on finding other buyers to keep the blast furnaces burning. Corus is now legally challenging the decision of the consortium of Marcegaglia SpA, Dongkuk Steel Mills Co Ltd, Duferco Participations Holding Ltd and Alvory SA.

Craig Brooks and Richard Green, senior union members at Community (union) say their hopes have been shattered. “We were expecting better news to break. Maybe some new equity partner,” said Brooks.

“Operating a 3 million tonne per year merchant slab plant is not sustainable without a long-term strategic partner,” a statement from Corus last week said.

Driving his eight-seater Mercedes Benz from Middlesbrough station to Corus’ Redcar plant, cabby John Finn claims the quality of the steel made in his home town is unparalleled anywhere in the world. “The cost of making is probably much lower in India. Obviously, the wages must be much lower there,” Finn said.

The region has a 150-year history in steel making. The genesis was based on the iron-ore deposits discovered here in the early 19th century. The scenario today is very different. Raw material is now hauled from all over the world to feed this plant, making it logistically a very costly economic exercise. Brooks and Green are more concerned about their local economy than the overall health of the company. “We cannot look at the big picture. We are more worried about the 150-year culture,” Green said. They proudly cite landmark structures like the Golden Gate Bridge in San Fansisco and Sydney Harbour Bridge in Australia that were built with steel made in Middlesbrough.

The news of Tatas buying the company in 2007 was welcomed by the unions. “We though the Tatas were a very ethical company, only to find little sign of that now. If the Tatas could hold their nerves, profits will come back to this plant,” said Green. He said Corus’ earlier owners had made a similar mistake, of closing a coil plate mill that led to a loss of 1,000 jobs. “Looking back, that was a very bad decision. It could have kept the plant profitable,” say the union members.

There are a handful of other employers in the region like chemicals major ICI and a few sub-contractors who work for Corus. But fallback options for the workers who will be given the pink slip seem limited. Apart from 1,700 who will lose their jobs in Corus, another 1,300-1,500 will be jobless in the sub-contracting companies.

Given the region’s already higher unemployment rates, compared to national averages, it would be difficult to find alternative jobs. Migrating out of the region is an option but a difficult one to make. Locals are also worried about the impact of the rising unemployment on social issues like crime and alcohol-induced problems. Unofficial statistics claim that crime rates in Middlesbrough are already four times the national average.

Willy, 33, sitting at the O’Grady’s ale house on Queen Street in Redcar and drinking his favourite brew, says he might hold on to his job till March. He seems not too worried about his future. He used to work at this pub before he moved to work for a Corus’ sub-contractor some three years back. “I will find another job in some pub or something. It is these guys who have been working at Corus for more than 30 years that is worrying.” Many like Brooks and Green are third-generation Corus workers. Looking for a back-up job never seemed to have occurred to them until now.

Roy Myers, the owner of O’Grady’s, said he bought the business only six years before, when economic conditions where much better. Today, he largely depends on the 27 rooms he rents out on the first floor of his pub to keep the place running. “Good food, good booze and telly should keep this place going. And then, there is God,” he says, pointing his finger up.

Whether God comes to his help or not, the UK government has announced a £60 million recovery package for the region, which should ease the blow from Corus’ decision to mothball its operations. The unions are yet not ready to give up. They are asking for a meeting with the top bosses at Tata and expect them to justify their decision with more facts. “The fight is not over yet,” says Green.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steel maker, will benefit from a windfall of £1 billion (Rs 7,000 crore), thanks to the carbon credits issued to it under the European Trading Scheme. The Sunday Times today reported that ArcelorMittal will be the single largest beneficiary under the ETS due to its dominant presence in Europe.

Under the ETS, companies are issued permits called carbon credits that allow them to emit carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases with a specified cap. Any emission above this cap will have to be bought by the companies by buying globally traded carbon credits.

According to The Sunday Times, ArcelorMittal has been issued carbon credits far in excess of its requirements. This would allow the company to sell these credits, thus providing a windfall estimated at £1 billion by 2012.

“The investigation has also shown that ArcelorMittal and Eurofer, which represents European steel makers at the European level, have lobbied intensively in Brussels. This has included threatening to move plants out of Europe at a cost of 90,000 jobs, and asking European commissioners to meet Mittal,” the report said.

Anna Pearson, an expert on the ETS who carried out the analysis, said: “Between 2008 and 2012, ArcelorMittal stands to gain assets worth £1 billion at today’s prices for scant effort. For them, the ETS has been turned into a system for generating free subsidies.”

Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal (controlled by India-born Lakshmi Mittal) is the world’s number one steel company, present in more than 60 countries and with more than 80 steel plants around Europe. ArcelorMittal’s key financials for 2008 show revenues of $124.9 billion and crude steel production of 103.3 million tonnes, representing approximately 10 per cent of world output.

Carbon credits have been a controversial subject, with climate warriors across the world terming it immoral, and an idea that allows prospective polluters to make money out of it.

Friday, December 4, 2009

After months of attempts to save its plant in Northeast Britain, Tata Steel-owned Corus finally gave in to the financial pressure and decided to "mothball" part of its operations at the Teesside Cast Products (TCP) unit, resulting in loss of 1,700 jobs. The losses are, however, 600 lesser than originally envisaged.

The mothballing was forced when a consortium of buyers (from Europe and Asia) prematurely terminated a 10-year contract with Corus entered into in 2004. The consortium of Marcegaglia SpA, Dongkuk Steel Mills Co Ltd, Duferco Participations Holding Ltd (through Steel Invest Trading SA) and Alvory SA (a wholly owned subsidiary of Ternium SA) had originally agreed to buy nearly 80 per cent of the plant’s capacity over 10 years.

The estimated redundancy costs on account of the mothballing will be £80 million, according to Kirby Adams, chief executive of Corus.

The mothballed unit accounts for about 15 percent of Tata’s European steelmaking capacity. Excluding Teesside, Corus is producing at 75 percent of capacity. The Anglo-Dutch company Corus was bought by Tata Steel in 2006 (announced in January 2007) for $12 billion.

According to a statement issued by Corus, TCP’s Redcar Blast Furnace, Lackenby steelmaking and the South Bank Coke Ovens will be mothballed at the end of January. Corus intends to keep open a number of other operations.

The Corus spokesperson later clarified that technically the plant has not been "closed". Mothballing would mean the shut units could be put back into operation when the right buyer with a sufficient order size is found to warrant such a move. Said Kirby Adams, “This is the last thing we wanted and we feel deeply about what is happening. Sadly, it has become unavoidable, through no fault of our people on Teesside.”

The statement from the company further said that since the consortium broke this legally-binding agreement, from which it made an estimated $800 million profit, Corus has been diverting internal orders to TCP. The company has also been securing external orders on an ad hoc basis to keep the plant open, while an alternative future for it was sought. This has cost the company about £130m. "Operating a 3 million tonnes per year merchant slab plant is not sustainable without a long-term strategic partner," the statement added.

A Corus spokesperson later said all attempts would be made to ensure workers who will lose their jobs due to this latest decision get support, either through relocation to another site or in securing a job elsewhere. "All options will be explored," the company spokesperson said.

Since negotiations to make the consortium honour the contract failed, Corus has been pursuing legal options. However the company refused to discuss the status of the case.

Unite's (union) joint general secretary, Derek Simpson said: "This is a dark day for British manufacturing. Unite will do everything possible to prevent this closure from going ahead. The government must now act to save Teesside as decisively as it acted to save the banks last year. The plant needs urgent financial support to secure a future for the workers and prevent its closure."

Keith Hazlewood, GMB (union) National Secretary, said: "What a terrible contrast, with 1700 workers losing their jobs on Teesside, while multi-millionaire bankers gorge themselves at the expense of the tax payers.”

Thursday, December 3, 2009

The Tata Steel-owned steel maker Corus is preparing for a major rebranding initiative, which can result in the 11-year-old Corus badge being replaced with the Tata brand name. The £12-billion (nearly Rs 93,000-crore, at latest exchange rate) Corus’ legal identity was changed last November to Tata Steel Europe.

The change in the brand name can show up on the company’s locations, stationary and vehicles. The rebranding process, if approved by the company, is expected to commence next summer. A Corus spokesperson said: “Tata Steel can confirm its intention to adopt the Tata Steel brand as the visual identity of its Corus operations, continuing a transition that began more than a year ago when Tata Steel Europe became the legal name for Corus. Should the next stage of this transition get final approval, implementation is expected to start by the middle of 2010.”

Corus is yet to formally decide on the makeover. According to sources in Tata Steel, the company had appointed in-house teams and external agencies to work out a proposal, which will have to be ratified by the management. The cost of this rebranding exercise is not known yet. “If approved, the implementation will be in a phase-wise manner,” the sources said.

Corus, as an entity, was founded in 1999 with the merger of British Steel and Koninklijke Hoogovens. In April 2007, Corus became a subsidiary of Tata Steel in a deal which cost the Indian steel maker $12 billion (over Rs 55,000 crore, at latest exchange rate).

Corus is the single largest unit under the Tata Steel banner. It contributes nearly 70 per cent of the group’s 28-million-tonne crude steel production capacity and employs half of its 80,000-strong workforce.

Tata Steel has rebranded Thailand’s Millennium Steel — which it acquired in 2005 — as Tata Steel Thailand. According to sources, this rebranding as Tata Steel Thailand is still under different stages of implementation. However, Singapore-based NatSteel, which was acquired in 2004, is yet to be rebranded.

“We are not rebranding NatSteel as yet. We are taking up Corus now,” sources said.

Apart from Corus, the other major brands Tata owns in the UK are Tetley Tea and Jaguar-Land Rover (JLR). While the websites of Corus, Tetley and JLR carry the ‘Tata Enterprise’ tag, Tetley Tea carries the Tata name on its products as well. In the case of Corus, it is not yet clear how the Tata brand name would reflect on products that have a presence in over 50 countries across the world.

Tata Group, which owns British car maker Jaguar Land Rover, has rejected a £10 million loan offered by the UK government to develop electric cars at the group's European Technical Centre, according to a report in The Times today.

A Tata Motors' spokesperson refused to comment on this.

The £10-million loan was part of the Automotive Assistance Plan announced last month by UK Business Secretary Lord Peter Mandelson, to help car makers in the UK recover from the worst recession to hit the industry in recent memory and also help in developing new technologies in the automotive sector.

This development is another clear sign of the strained relationship between Tata Group and Mandelson's Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. Earlier this year, Tata's JLR and Mandelson's office were engaged in intense negotiation to secure a loan guarantee from the UK government for a £340 million loan approved by European Investment Bank. This negotiation finally broke down and Tata Group finally raised the money from other sources in India and the UK.

It was widely reported that the negotiations broke down on account of some of the conditions put forward by Mandelson's office, including a demand for a berth on the board of JLR that would give the UK government a say in the car maker's future business plans. JLR had openly rejected the idea of having a UK government representative on its board.

JLR's CEO David Smith, in an interview to Business Standard earlier, had said JLR would accept support from the British government only on regular commercial terms.

David Bailey, of Coventry University Business School and an expert on the Midlands (in Britain, where Tata’s technical centre is) economy said, "The government wants to make UK the centre for making electric vehicles. The £10 million loan to Tata was for making electric cars in the UK. I hope the Tata Group (despite rejecting the loan) still intends to make electric cars in the UK."

Last week, Tata Motors' vice-chairman Ravi Kant, in an international automotive conference in London, attended by Mandelson, reminded the audience that the Tata Group was as British as any other British Group and the UK government must support the manufacturing sector as much as it is supporting the financial services sector.